'Meaningful adjacencies': The incredible way the names of victims are arranged at the 9/11 Memorial pools
By Mike O'brien
Last updated at 4:39 AM on 11th September 2011
The grand custom for memorials is to list the names of those honoured in some sort of ordered fashion — typically, alphabetically, and occasionally by birth date.
But at the 9/11 Memorial, a lot of thought has gone into the arrangement of what would seem a random listing of nearly 3,000 names.
The names are arranged in a much more meaningful, emotionally charged and incredibly complicated way.
Finally honoured: The memorial site at Ground Zero, a symbol of how Americans have risen out of the devastating attack
List of emotions: Relatives and visitors can save time searching for a particular name by locating it on a website
They are listed according to the concept of 'meaningful adjacencies.'
The names are etched on to 76 bronze panels surrounding two memorial pools at the site of the fallen towers.
They are grouped by the victims' relationships with each other, says Linda Tischler at Fast Company.
The first level of clustering is fairly obvious: Firefighters with firefighters, cops with cops, all the members of each of the flights, first responders, or just pals.
But, beyond that, the groupings become more complex in a way that, says Casey Chan at Gizmodo, packs a more 'emotional impact.'
Within these sub-clusters, the names are arranged to reflect friendships and family bonds.
For example, the 704 people who died at the offices of investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald will be grouped together, with co-workers who enjoyed special bonds listed next to each other.
Other connections may seem more random, but they illustrate the level of research that went into the planing of the names.
Harry Ramos met a struggling Victor Wald on the stairwell while trying to get out of the North Tower, and began helping him down the steps.
Grand design: A worker looks up from the illuminated North Pool to appreciate the work that has been done in the last few years
First glimpse: Aeriel view of Ground Zero taken from Washington Street the day before the official 9/11 memorial service
When Wald could go no further, Ramos stayed with him. Both died when the tower collapsed, and their names appear next to each other on the memorial.
Sibling relationships are also acknowledged: Two brothers were first responders who died that day, firefighter John T. Vigiano II and police officer Joseph Vigiano.
John's name appears at the end of his unit; next to it, Joseph begins the list of names from his unit.
So how did memorial designers find out about these connections?
Media design firm Local Projects, which planned the memorial, asked for help from victims' loved ones to create the 'meaningful adjacencies' system.
Serene: A view of the south pool waterfall with the One World Trade Centre in the background last month as work continued on the memorial site which will officially open tomorrow
Now and the future: Amid on-going construction at the site, the stand for the September 11 anniversary ceremony sits in front of one of the memorial pools at the World Trade Center today, left, and a projected image of what the site will look like when all the skyscrapers are built
About 1,200 requests for meaningful placements were returned.
Then, with the help of software programmer Jen Thorp, an algorithm was created that would arrange the 'really irregularly shaped puzzle pieces' built from the adjacencies.
To find a name, the website names.911memorial.org allows you to search for a person or group on the memorial by name, birthplace, job, first responder unit, or flight.
The search results show a picture of the correct panel, as well as the panel's number.
The number corresponds to a map that allows visitors to easily locate the name.
The Memorial Finder site also provides a photo of most victims, biographical information provided by next of kin, and lists any meaningful adjacencies associated with that victim.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2035887/9-11-Anniversary-Names-victims-arranged-meaningful-adjacencies-memorials.html#ixzz1Xdf0R7x4
